


Road to the End - Volume 7 Special Prologue

by digitaleva



Series: Road to the End [7]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Special Preview
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 14:40:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11061096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digitaleva/pseuds/digitaleva
Summary: A mission goes wrong. Oh so wrong. Volume 7 begins 06/15/2017





	Road to the End - Volume 7 Special Prologue

"You certain that this is the right spot?" 

Obsidian's voice broke the awkward silence that had been permeating the air, hanging thick as fog on a cool morning.

The four members of Team COLD, newly reunited only a few months before, were in a portion of the Emerald Forest that seemed to have once been inhabited by an ancient civilization.

The massive scope of the ruins around them, now being reclaimed by nature, were a testament to the tenacity and ingenuity of the now seemingly extinguished culture. Massive stone monoliths stood on the sides of an overgrown road, their faces covered with moss, finer featured having been weathered away by the elements. Yet, in places, flecks of color could be seen, remnants of the ancient paint that had survived the centuries.

On the walls, varying pictograms were carved, their stories and tales seemingly lost to time, as no soul yet drew breath that could interpret them.

Lapis walked over to one set in silence, and ran her hand over the carved surface, most of the finer details here having been miraculously spared the ravages of the wind and rain, preserved far better that those on the outer walls of the building they now stood within.

She stopped as she came across a familiar shape etched into the stone: The form unmistakable, being known to all inhabitants of the world. The image showed a battle from the ancient world with a Grimm.

What struck at the four of them was the positioning of the figures. On the ground, a small ground of humans were depicted, unarmed. Their saviors, a group of Faunus, squared off against a group of Beowolfs. 

The outcome was a mystery, as the rest had seemingly been chiseled off at a later date, the wall scratched, scorched, and riddled with bullet holes, signs of past students having been fighting that same, yet different battle on this very spot.

"According to the map, this is where we're supposed to meet up with the rest for extraction."

Caos' answer snapped the blonde Faunus out of her self-induced trance.

Brushing an errant strand of hair out of her face, Lapis turned to face her team mates.

"You don't think we missed them, do you?"

Dante tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to jump slightly. 

"No way."

He pulled out his scroll and showed her the time.

"See? We're ahead of schedule. So I say we take a chance to look around here. Bart's been begging for a team to investigate this place without shooting it up."

Obsidian chuckled a little. 

"What's there to study? It's an abandoned Faunus city."

The shorter male sighed a little as he remembered that history had never been one of his taller team member's strong suits.

"At the risk of sounding like the good doctor, I'll explain:

The Faunus have been around on Remnant far longer than we, humans, have. Their cities dot the globe, most having fallen into ruin centuries ago.

Each one tells a story. Being able to understand and interpret that story can potentially help all the people in the world in the struggle against the Grimm."

The bat Faunus smirked. "When did you become such a nerd?"

"Since we... WOAH!"

The brunette side-stepped just as a large chunk of stone came hurtling towards his head. As he retook his position, he drew his weapon.

The quartet now assumed a defensive position, their backs to each other.

"You get a fix on the source?"

"Nadda, Caos! Lapis! You think it's a Grimm?"

"You mean like a Beringel? Not likely, Dante. That was too well aimed. Also, the edges were smooth, almost as if...."

"'Almost as if ' what, Lapis!?"

"Almost as if they were cut...." She was stopped suddenly and shouted. "SCATTER!"

While both Faunus and Dante made it clear, Caos was momentarily pinned by her coat and weapon to the ground, a long, crimson blade being the culprit. It had pierced her bo staff in the thinner metal of the muzzle end, impaling it, and then traveling through the tail of her garment to the ground.

All four then whipped around to be met with a familiar form.

A woman, standing around 5'9", with shoulder length, thick, ebony hair. Her clothing was a mixture of black and red, and armor covered her forearms, terminating in sharply angled peaks at the elbows. An avian-like mask, styled after the hardened skull of a long deceased Grimm adorned her head, hiding all features of her face.

Discarding the blade by ejecting the sharpened Dust from the hilt, she swung a second blade, releasing it, as well, splitting the team in two with a collapsed entryway.

"You! Why!?"

"Why, what?" she retorted, attaching a third blade to the hilt, bringing it up just as Dante leapt across to her, his own sword barely clearing the ceiling as he did so.

The two sword fighters met blades and went into a harsh bind, neither one willing to give up ground.

"Why would you attack us!? We're on the same side!"

She scoffed at this. "Ha. Same side. You talk of sides as if you know what it means to pick one. You are delusional, just as he said."

She was forced to separate only once Caos, having freed herself and Ardjet from their bladed captor came in swinging.

Outside, Lapis and Obsidian were attempting to gain entry via any means possible.

"Can you see any other way in, Lapis?"

"No! You?"

"Nuh-uh. Looks like we're digging. Give me a hand with these, 'kay?"

The two Faunus then began to slowly move the chunks of rubble aside, in the hopes of arriving in time to save their team mates.

Back inside, Caos and Dante were both starting to tire, having been forced to use defensive tactics by their attacker.

"But what about your brother!?" Caos' shout was an attempt to appeal to the assailant's family ties.

"What about him?"

"Don't you care about him or the rest of your family!?"

"That drunk, traitorous, fool is no brother of mine," she hissed out.

The woman scoffed more as she pressed the attack anew, delivering a kick to Dante's head, sending him reeling.

With one opponent temporarily dealt with, she turned her full attention to Caos, rushing in while swinging her blade rapidly, the blonde human barely managing to dodge or block the strikes.

Exhaustion finally took its toll, as she made a misstep, allowing her opponent to get inside her defensive range and deliver a swift knee to the gut, flooring her.

"So pathetic."

As she readied her blade for the killing blow, a shout from across the room forced her to swing early.

The blade slid across solid metal, before she redirected it, removing the source of the interruption.

Dante, having rushed in, was unable to arrest his forward momentum, and watched as the thinner blade slid across the trailing edge of Pollux, and through his forearm, separating him from one half of his weapon. As he hit the wall and slumped to the ground, his vision blurred.

The last thing he would see was that same blade causing his own limb to be joined by an armored one, this one having bicep attached.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright. So, to get this out there: This was done this way due to no places allowing a "Chapter Zero". So, I am going to say it here:  
> Road to the End, Volume 7  
> Premiering on 06/15/2017
> 
> That's right. I have FINISHED writing Volume 7, and it will be starting up in two weeks.
> 
> For those of you who were expecting the next part to start this week, I am sorry. This delay actually ended up working out in my favor, as I have had a minor familial emergency, so I wouldn't have been able to write more until just now.
> 
> This is also the ONLY one-shot entry in the series that I plan on writing, so please, if you want to see more of these, let me know, and I will consider starting development on a series of side stories.


End file.
